Very Good Economy Sedan

We have had this car for a few months over two years. We bought it used from Sherway Acura for $26000 for the 4 cylinder EX model with leather seats. When we bought it, the car had 40 K km on it and now it has 100 K km.

We recently replaced the brakes on the car and bought new all season tires for it. I guess at 100 K km, that's par for the course. We did a full car tune up around 75K km. It has run well for us at all times and is very reliable otherwise.

The car looks very nice even after five years. We got the silver colour with black leather interior. I even like the two tone horizontal tail lights, red and white. In my opinion, the only other car that looks better in the same class would have to be the new 2008 Nissan Altima.

Our model, the EX, is fully loaded with heated leather seats, dual climate control, 6 CD changer, moonroof, and the power group (windows, doors, brakes). The button to open the moonroof is on the console reachable by the driver's left hand. I have gotten used to it's location and actually don't use the moonroof nearly as much as I thought I would. I prefer to use the air conditioner in the hot summer which works well. It's not icy cold, but fairly cold enough.

I really like the one touch auto windows(up and down)... very handy when buying coffee from the Tim Hortons drive-through on a frigid Canadian morning.

The sounds system sounds ok. Nothing spectacular, but good enough. My home Harmon Kardon system blows it out of the water, but for a car system, it will do. It does have 6 CD changer, large buttons, and a clear display. I don't like those tiny stereo player decks.

The car feels very spacious inside. My wife and I are smaller people, 5'1" and 5'6", respectively, so that's not too surprising. The back seats are very spacious.

The car has nice places to put your CDs and other items like in the center console which has the capacity of a Scott's Tissue box. The side pockets in the door and in the glove box are good sized.

The car takes less than a minute to warm up in winter. The defroster takes about ten minutes to clear off the ice frosted front and rear windshield.

I've never had to use the brakes very hard, but they have worked fine in all conditions. The Accord has anti-lock brakes(ABS) which make themselves known in slippery conditions.

The acceleration is sufficient. Since it's a four cylinder, I didn't expect it to burn rubber, but it does have good pick up when you press down on the pedal. Since it has a VTEC engine, you can hear the muffled roar when it accelerates hard, but it is rare as the car's automatic transmission takes care of that. The Accord accelerates smoothly and confidently, unlike my Civic in which there is a huge power surge when the VTEC kicks in.

I find with four adults, the car does feel a tad sluggish and bit heavy on the cornering. My brother's Honda Prelude had great acceleration, but it is also much lighter.

Our family has had Pontiacs and Fords for two decades and Hondas are much more car for the dollar. We had all kinds of major problems with the American cars. Where Hondas excel are in many small intangible ways, control placement, style, fuel efficiency, feel, reliability, and so on...

The aspect I most appreciate about my Accord is the fuel efficiency. We intentionally bought a four cylinder to save on gas as we are price sensitive. And it has not disappointed. It costs about $50 to fill the tank from empty and that will run us about 500 plus kilometres. To compare, my 2001 Honda Civic Si costs $40 to fill up and will run 550 km, so that's pretty close to the Accord's specs. Now that the gas prices hover over $1 a litre, we really really appreciate saving that little bit extra on gas!!

In conclusion, we are very satisfied with the Accord as it fulfills our needs as a daily commuter. It is not going to make your heart flutter, but if you're a middle class person looking for a great car with good fuel economy in a stylish package... the Honda Accord EX, 4 cylinder is tough to beat.

Update: Since we have a little one on the way, I am eventually planning on replacing my Honda Civic with a Honda Pilot.